MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Billy Ray Turner is currently serving a life sentence at a prison in Middle Tennessee for the murder of Lorenzen Wright.
From that prison in Only, Tennessee, on a phone call with WREG Investigators April Thompson and Zaneta Lowe, Turner denied having anything to do with the basketball star’s death.
Lowe asked Turner, “I want to be crystal clear about this. Did you shoot or kill Lorenzen Wright?”
He responded, “No, I did not. I never was there. I never was there.”
Turner reached out to the WREG Investigators saying he wants to clear his name and talk about who he believes killed Lorenzen Wright.
“I have all kind of documents of these people that, was that could have set me free, but never was mentioned, never was brought up,” said Turner.
Turner mailed WREG some documents that WREG is still working to independently confirm.
While covering the case, WREG combed through hundreds of pages of trial motions, but some are sealed. In fact, much of what’s inside the files remains a secret.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office denied our public records requests to review the entire case and prosecutor’s file citing Turner’s appeal.
Thompson asked Turner, “So you said you didn’t have anything to do with it. You did not kill Lorenzen. And who do you think did?”
Turner responded, “I think Jimmie Martin and his friends did. It wasn’t all brought out. It was a lot of stuff that left out. Jimmie and his friends did it, whoever they may be.”
Jimmie Martin got immunity in the case for his testimony. He’s Sherra Wright’s cousin and is currently serving a 20 year sentence for killing his girlfriend.
Turner’s former attorney John Keith Perry referenced Martin’s character and conviction throughout Turner’s trial, including during his opening statement.
“It becomes clear that Billy Ray Turner is innocent and this fiance killer is a hundred percent guilty,” said Perry as he pointed toward an empty seat on the witness stand where Martin would later testify against his client.
Turner’s lawyer took that position during his trial and had Sherra Wright’s case gone to trial, one of her former attorneys told us he once considered doing the same.
“Our initial theory was that Jimmie Martin had committed the murder, because he could pinpoint the location of the murder weapon,” said Sherra’s former attorney Juni Ganguli.
That theory though, Ganguli says, became a dead end because of the proof against Sherra.
Proof that eventually led to a plea, but never an explanation from Lorenzen’s ex about who carried out her plot to kill him.
“Sherra never directly pointed the finger at Billy as being the person who killed Lorenzen,” said Lowe to Ganguli and fellow attorney Laurie Hall who was also on the case.
“I would agree with that. Pleading guilty, she’s not required to point the finger,” explained Hall.
Thompson then asked Hall and Ganguli, “What was his role in the murder?”
“I don’t think we know, really and truly what his role was,” said Hall.
“What is your reaction to that, that there are other suspects out there who’ve never been questioned and that Billy says he’s innocent?” Thompson asked.
Ganguli then said, “I think it’s possible that Billys’ innocent.”
“If you weren’t in the woods that night, if you didn’t kill Lorenzen. Explain the connection to the gun. The trips afterwards. Getting rid of the gun. Explain all of that, because that’s what a jury heard”, said Lowe to Billy Ray Turner.
Turner replied, “Well, I wasn’t I wasn’t in the woods. And as far as finding the gun in the lake, ah finding the gun in the lake, Jimmie, Jimmie knew what the gun was in the lake. Jimmy had time to set all this stuff up while he was in prison!”
It’s not just knowledge about the gun that has some people thinking Jimmie Martin is involved. It’s what he said on day five of Turner’s trial.
He’s described in chilling detail what he said Sherra and Billy told him about Lorenzen’s death.
“They started chasing him, they started firing at him, chasing him. Jumped through the fence. He was jumping like a deer. They caught him. When he fell,” Martin said on the stand.
The WREG Investigators spoke with Lorenzen’s mother Deborah Marion about Martin’s statement.
“Listen to what he says, don’t nobody tell you nobody was jumping a fence like a deer, that’s what you saw,” Marion exlaimed.
During the WREG Investigators recorded conversation with Turner, Lowe asked, “If Jimmie did, it, wouldn’t prosecutors have known and have gone after him?”
Turner responded, “No, they didn’t want, they didn’t want to go after him. They found someone that they can, they can depend on and they could put this case on. So, they didn’t want to solve this case. This was a cold case and they wanted to solve it. They they about solving cases. They’re not about innocence.”
WREG recently spoke with Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman who served as lead prosecutor on the case and asked the very same question.
Lowe asked Hagerman, “If you all knew that he had some involvement, why not go after him?”
Hagerman said, “So if the state had other evidence back in 2012, back in 2012, when he came forward, other than with the statements he made, the state could have prosecuted him. But my understanding this is before my involvement in the case is they had no evidence implicating Jimmie Martin at that time.”
Hagerman also explained Martin received what’s called ‘use immunity’ adding, “Jimmie Martin has not been given transactional immunity, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that ultimately he could be charged.”
Thursday, the WREG Investigators hear more from Deborah Marion and what she thinks about Billy Ray Turner’s claims that he didn’t kill her son.